Poetic Justice

Yeah, it's kind of like poetic justice or something--that with my writing contest, the winner would be someone special....

No one to vote for, no other stories to read, boo hoo.... but it's still okay! Renee (Reyney) deserves a gift more than anyone.

See? Someone that's one of the hardest working people I know, always doing stuff for others, has one of the most sacrificial/dedicated vocations, besides being just plain cute.... sometimes these characteristics magically come back with some kind of love. Hugs to you Renee!

Rather, there's a bucket of babies on its way too!

(It'll be sent soon after Christmas, and I'll post pics here of what is sent.)

Freedom

I know we live in a "free" country, but our own personal freedom is so interesting from person to person.

For me, it's all the bills paid (hate owing anybody), all correspondence, shipping and phonecalls caught up, food in the fridge for any unexpected visits by enormous kids, and certainly all the dishes and laundry clean.

Psst, if your house is spotless, you ain't no artist, hee hee. That's my own personal joke, probably the only one that thinks it's hilarious!

Anyway, tonight I am pretty free! Maybe I'm at 95% of the above criteria, but that's free enough, lol.

Speaking of which, my honey faithfully watches CSI every week, when I'm probably doing my own thing. But I always hear the most awesome tracks at the end of that show, and I like how they vary them from genre to genre. If Ben is home, I can ask, "Who is that singing?", and he'll know immediately, new artist or not. Since he's not home right now, I googled the song they played last night and just love it.

Hereit is if you have a chance to listen. The lyrics are really cool, and it gave me goosebumps, because he sings about the underprivileged challenges for some kids growing up, something many of us will never have the faintest idea about.

---------------------------

Everything I have, everything I own
All my mistakes man you already know
I wanna be free, I wanna be free (Konvict)

From Senegal West Africa,
To St. Louis, Missouri
Thanks to Catherine Dana
For giving my pops his glory
He came down with his drum
And a dream to change the world
In a free uplifting world
And that's all he ever want
Mom came a little after
Gave birth to my brother
then all of the pressure
Made em' fight one another
See, the pain would never last
Did the best with what they had
He knew the world was out for grabs
And he searched to find his

Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, (Oh)Freedom
Everything I have, everything I own
All my mistakes man, you already know
I wanna be free, I wanna be free
So I search to find my(find my)..
..Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom
Everything I have, everything I own
All my mistakes girl, you already know
I wanna be free, I wanna be free, yeah

As a kid I never knew
I'd have to hustle just to make it through
So I found myself skipping school
Cause' the girls don't think I'm cool
And because of that I didn't care
Whether or not I went to jail
I just wanna be treated fair
Cause thats all I ever knew
Tellin' me I need to slow down
Cause everybody in the whole town
Cause they know how I get down
Foreigner from another town
Can you believe we still around?
After so many hit the ground
And we ain't gon stop now
Until we get that

Freedom,(ooohh) Freedom,(oohhh) Freedom, (oh)Freedom
Everything I have,(have) everything I own, (own)
All my mistakes man you already know (yea)
I wanna be free, (free)I wanna be free (free)
won't stop till i find
my freedom, my Freedom,(Freedom) my Freedom, (Freedom) (oh) Freedom
Everything I have, everything I own
All my mistakes girl, you already know
I wanna be free, I wanna be free, yeah
If you wanna be free, and the land is drug-free
put your hands up, (ay)put your hands up (ay)
If you wanna be free, from all your misery
put your hands up, (ay) put your hands up
If you wanna be free, with plenty money (ay)
put your hands up, put your hands up
If you wanna be free, just praise G-O-D put your hands (ay)up, put your hands up (ay)

Freedom, (ohh)Freedom(Freedom), Freedom, (ooh)Freedom
Everything I have, everything I own
All my mistakes girl you already know
I wanna be free(wanna be free)


----------------------


So now I wish I was also free from needing to do anymore Christmas shopping. What on earth do you get 19- and 21-year-old young guys that don't really want anything (except maybe a new car?) anyway?

Why, thank you for asking!

What you do is you march right over to Etsy vintage to insideously train them to love vintage!

Matt and Ben often get together with lots of friends to play Nertz Solitaire (or Peanuts). You MUST play it sometime; even if you hate cards, you'll find it addictive. My mom and sister notice my pathetically compulsive, game-playing competitiveness while I play, I'm the sorest loser you'll ever meet. Nobody gets that about me.

Anywho, what would catch my eye at Etsy vintage? Why, a darling green metal card shuffler! It's so cute, and so cool. Sorry for the un-crisp pic!

I Spy......

all my missing stuff!!

Here is just one lost item that I found today! This particular item is what I used for a "catch-all" at our previous house; I hadn't seen it since.... and that equates to almost 7 months.



All these missing things were driving me crazy. The most painful would have to be one of my favorite Christmas decorations--a dolly-size vintage Japan fireplace. Well it was in this same box, oh happy day.

We have a fairly organized house, and somehow there were 3 other BIG moving boxes, still sealed, sitting by all our Christmas decorations. Surely it wasn't a coincidence that I had quiet time and prayer today, which I've completely blown off lately. We all run ourselves ragged and I'm sure God was showing me that slowing down will always make our lives better.

Two other wonderful surprises were even more amazing! I received the most fabulous, wonderful, creative, darling and colorful package from Linda of Felted Folksies fame! Her packages are the most spectacular because her little chenille darlings are about as cute as they come. I never like the "new" or reproduction chenille products, only vintage. Well her creations have changed all that! Please check out my Flickr page (today) for the prettiest vignette starring her sweet babies.

As if it couldn't get any better, it really did! Jana Maresh e-mailed a photo of my newest baby, Little Cupcake Girl! I've never been lucky enough to find a vintage cupcake pincushion, but Jana's creations are super duper sweet! She worked very long and extremely hard at perfecting them; that's obvious. I'll be very sad if I can't buy another one in the future, they're just like feeling cheated that you only ate one cupcake. Who wants only one cupcake? Again, check out my Flickr page for the picture she sent.

Dolly friends are the only friends to have!

A reminder: Please send me your stories for the contest no later than a week from today (Monday) by midnight, so we can vote!!

Felt The Fun

I am so proud of my mom (and dad of course!), but she has a flair for beautiful and detailed work no matter what she's making. Every since I was small, I can't remember a time when she didn't want something "just so."

Hey, I wonder if that's where I get my habits of crooked artwork on walls just bugging me to pieces??? Ha, honestly there's a mile-long list beyond that: one stray hair hanging over someone's eyes, a kid's nose that desperately needs a Kleenex, sticky kitchen cabinet handles, misspellings.... actually, I better stop or I won't be able to go to sleep, lol.

Regardless, my mom made the most beautiful fiber art today. Here's the little piece, it's even 3-D, with real pine cones that are only about 1/3" long.




I'm proud of her because she doesn't want to grow older and boring, or older and cranky. She chooses to be a very positive and fun person.

To be fair, my father is just as much fun. He's a better sport about getting teased than just about anyone I know, and he's always wanting to know what his kids and grandkids are up to. The worst thing about him? If you try to stump him--about a historical date, a geographical location, the spelling of a word, you w-i-l-l not win. It's uncanny. My latest "pop quiz" was, where is Belize (I have a friend from there), and how to spell poinsettia. If it wasn't so funny, I'd be so annoyed!

The bucket of vintageness below is some of the prize that will be sent to the person with the most votes for their story: a cute preview for you!

I know this is a busy season, and several friends have written saying they're working on it, but I hope a few of you still write in. Just a paragraph even, I'd love to hear from you~





Sweet dreams!

Peace of Mom

For those who know my mom, she's always making something, it's hilarious how she just can't sit still....

Well, she often makes small things like I do, though, and I might be stealing this miniature sweater she made: the little wooly tree is only about an inch tall, and I love how she designed it~






What to buy for a couple you hardly know? When we visited, they had the most unbelievably beautiful Christmas decorated home I may have ever been to in my life, so I settled on this below. The picture's not that great, because the tiny ornaments are quite colorful, and the whole sign is much bigger than it looks (a bugger to package for shipping). It was fantasticly vintage looking, and I thought you wouldn't have to be a vintage lover to appreciate it hopefully (just in case they're not). Almost wanted to buy one for myself....







Ho, ho, ho!

Life In Pictures

Ever since I learned to read, I always gravitated to books with pictures. I just had to be looking at photos and illustrations related to what I was reading. So, how perfect that the first story I received for this contest arrived with the cutest photo!

Here is Collector Story #1:

"One of my relatives has been a doll collector for as long as I could remember. She collects vintage dolls, mostly hard plastic from the 1950's. I would always tease her and call her the crazy doll lady! I never ever liked anything she bought! Until one day, she showed me an Asian doll on a stand. It was kinda like the Bradley dolls I remember my grandmother having, but this one was special. She had the most beautiful painted face, and the biggest head I have ever seen. She's wearing a pink kimono and a little bouquet of velvet flowers. I fell in love. AND it became my quest to find her lots and lots of friends. I have since learned so much about these kinds of dolls and the rest is history.

I'll attach a pic of that special dolly...."





To my blog readers, sorry the photo's not bigger--that's my fault, not the author's. I forgot how to download it properly, and I'll try to fix it later. Anyway, I hope you can see how cute the doll is. She has those way-too-cute vintage flowers that I wish I could sew onto every single thing i wear.


Lastly, because I have so many friends here that appreciate clothing details as much as I do, here's a Christmas vest I swiped from my sister because the feltwork appliques are just too cute!

Protecting Your Valuables

Wouldn't we just kill to protect all our precious dollies and stuff!

But, tonight I'm contemplating protecting something intangible for once.... my rest! I short-change myself so often lately (naps just ruin my day), so tonight I go to bed at a reasonable hour for once--something I imagine a lot of us women should try to do more often. EveryONE and everyTHING else first, we shouldn't do that!

FYI, I've gotten several e-mails conveying other stories are on their way, but I got my first paragraph tonight, AND it even has the cutest dolly pic with it! Tomorrow I'll blog it. It's an easy winner imho, with its cuteness content, but just remember, she's wins the cool prize by default if no one else shares their story.... which is fine by me of course, hee hee, but it would be wonderful to share more stories with eachother. ( ^ * . * ^ )

Nighty-night.

Backseat Bunny

Bear with me, I just need my cute bunny photo fix again. I would love to have one some day. Anyone ever have one, and you'd recommend it? Isn't it cute how you don't even need to catch them "being" cute, or in a cute situation? They're just cute.





Ben went back to college a few weeks ago with a friend's bunny in the backseat with him the whole way. There. The thoughts in my head just turned cute too.

Mmmmmm........ had my parents named me Bunny, this is what I'd be wearing:





Ha, my sister is saying, "that dress is just YOU." Of course she has my personal taste by memory, or telepathy, hee hee.

The dress is just so fab. You would find it in my closet right NOW. Except that when I found it on Etsy, I didn't think it'd fit me right. Vintage clothes are awesome, but darn it when you only have one size to choose from.

I got myself (back) on Etsy tonight, trying to figure out if I should continue my commitment to Pappashop (having an independent website). It's definitely more work. Etsy is wonderful anyway, so I'll probably try it for a couple months.

Tomorrow night we have our first Christmas party, and you know you have a creative obsession when you'd rather "play" at home all by yourself! We always end up having a great time, I need to snap out of it. Poor husband 'o mine; it's so important to put him first, so I'm just gonna be happy about it. :o)

You're A Prize

**Christmas Thank-You Contest Instructions Below**



About the contest in just a minute....



Today, I sent a package to a soldier in Iraq. All I sent was Catch Phrase (one of the most fun games, very portable too), a pile of candy, and my letter. After reading more about this program for adopting soldiers, I've learned that it's not expensive gifts they want, but simple and inexpensive thoughtfulness from all of us here at home. For instance, they'd prefer 3 letters from their adopter in one week vs. one big box of "stuff." I'll try to be frequent in letters/packages, instead of extravagant, that does make sense. Please consider sending a letter or small package even once. They're short on people volunteering to do it at this time, and I'm sad just thinking about it.

I'm not trying to harp on this, I just think it's a fabulous organization that makes a real difference. But no more words about it from me anymore, just never underestimate the power of small gestures towards others. :o)

Here's an outrageously darling photo to prove I'm changing the topic for good.



If you're ever having a bad day, go to

www.cuteoverload.com.

About the contest. It occurred to me last night, that my online friends (and customers from JSS) have been so incredibly sweet, that I very much wanted to say thank you to all of you somehow. I guess it's no accident that my shop is named "sweet". It's because of you. I can't thank you enough really, but I'll try. Hopefully in a creative way.

Even if it's just 2 short stories I receive, this will be interesting!

I simply love to hear how fellow collectors of vintage Japan, pose dollies, 70's nostalgia, etc., or like me, all of the above, got bitten by the "bug". Please e-mail me your story (short is best of course), and I'll post the stories anonymously on my blog (and number them so readers can know they've not missed any). In about two weeks, when we've hopefully gotten a few stories, I'll ask you to vote on which one you think is best (or funniest, interesting, etc., whatever you personally define as best).

So the person with the most votes tallied through my Blog Comments will get a very cool surprise! The prize will be several items, but I will offer the winner a couple choices. I'll also ask the winner if they mind me revealing their identity, which would be cute for curious readers. Please keep your stories somewhat brief, but descriptive(!), and maybe tell us about your Holy Grail, or your prized possession (I reserve the right to do some basic editing to preserve anonymity, hee hee), and simply explain what triggered your quest to gobble up all the adorable stuff of days gone by! Any revelations of personal identity that is accidentally missed by me will not disqualify you, but I was hoping to keep it as such. I wouldn't want any of my favorite people here to think I was favoring anyone, K?

Signing off tonight with a photo of a special surprise I received from a wonderful person. Elizabeth is Creative_Breathing at Flickr, and after admiring so much of her work, look at what arrived in my mailbox! Here it is below, properly showing off on the doorknob of my office. She's super talented, her work is meticulous, and she's just really special.

What Are You Doing?

When you are so disappointed to see the day end, because you have to quit what you love doing? What are you doing when you can hardly get yourself to eat or go to bed because it will interrupt your bliss? Where are you when you can't believe how many hours just passed because your immersion made you unaware of time?

I know I find myself most lost in time when my favorite people are around me -- doesn't matter what we're doing really. And I'll be really, really lost in time if you give me those favorite people and put me in a room stuffed with stuff. Markers, beads, fabric, vintage trim and trinkets, old books and records, dolls and toys, sewing machines, tools, papers and graphics, and the list is embarrassingly long!

If my enormous pile of stash didn't just give me the giggles every time, I'd probably be crying instead, lol, over what I've spent through the years, or how much sooner my husband could've retired, or how much more my family could have seen of me had I not had my myself buried in some project. :o)

Whatevah, whatevah. It's still where and how I'm happiest -- just like today.

My mom made some of the cutest little sweater ornaments today, and we both worked on all kinds of things in general. The mini sweaters have the cutest little insets of fabric under the knitting, with Christmas decorations besides.



Here's some of my stash that I turned into something to frame for one of my mom's powder rooms. The cover illustration seemed so perfect for the occasion! Oh, that chubbiness of Jerry, he's a cartoon character ferpetessake and I could just squish him with kisses.